Gun Control: Who's Pulling the Trigger?

Have we as United States citizens grown so accustomed to having our rights taken away that we would give up our safety? We constantly watch politics, MSNBC, Morning Joe, Politics Show, American Morning, CNN, etc. andwe allow these shows to tell us how we should feel. Guns are an American right. Therefore no one, no matter what title of social status they hold in this, “free,” country, is allotted the control of taking them away from us. I am saying no to Gun Control, no longer can I be a bystander to the never ending chaos. Our second amendment written by our founding founders was supposed to be the bases of America, and we should not allow the government to adjust history.

Notably, gun control has been an issue for Americans for many years, and yet still we cannot find a resolution to this topic. Until criminals decided no longer do they want to cause harm to citizens, gun control should not be in place. Therefore I am anti- gun Control because at the end of the day when it all comes down to it you should not have to worry about someone killing you, or others.

Criminals do not follow laws. Taking away guns will give criminals more of a motive to retrieve guns. Who’s to say that when gun control laws are put into place criminals won’t be able to access them? In fact most gun crimes the weaponry is stolen retrieved through a black market, straw purchase, and/or relatives. New York Daily Times article said, “The monster used one of his mother’s guns to unleash h*ll at Sandy Hook Elementary School (Scandoval),” in this particular article they were talking about The Sandy Hook Elementary shooting which devastated the nation. The gunman, Adam Lanza, took his mother’s gun before heading to Sandy Hook Elementary killing 26 people including 20 first graders. Adam Lanza is not the first to retrieve a gun from a relative. One of the most common gun sources for criminals is a relative. To retrieve this gun Adam Lanza also killed his mother, but the government believes taking guns away would solve this issue. Criminals will always find a way such as Adam Lanza did to kill those innocent first graders. Taking away guns will not protect the innocent.

Not only do criminals not follow laws, but how will we protect ourselves when we are caught in an extreme gun issue. From personal gun experience when I was barely of age I watched my mother get held at gunpoint, and robbed. At the time I became Pro- Gun Control before recognizing if we were under different circumstances and my mother also had a gun the outcome would have been different. Every year 100,000 to around 2 million self-defense cases involving gun usage is noted. Concerning protection LA Times reporter James Q. Wilson said, “It’s also important to note that guns play an important role in self-defense. Estimates differ as to how common this is, but the numbers are not trivial. Somewhere between 100,000 and more than 2 million cases of self-defense occur every year. (Wilson)” According to the research self-defense cases take place every year. Without guns how will we defend ourselves? We need guns to protect ourselves in sudden acts of danger when the police cannot come to our rescue. If they were able to them 2 million cases where self-defense was required would not have taken place.

As well as protection, guns are an American right given to us by the Second Amendment. It is true that the constitution was written shortly after the Revolutionary War, and everyone was still living in fear but America although not physically under attack is constantly under attack. We live in fear also of different terrorist groups such as Al- Qaeda, Isis, many groups constantly send threats to America, and let us not forget on September 11, 2001 one of them did launch an attack. Never the less the real threat are the criminals that live within our states. The Second Amendment (Amendment II) to the United States Constitution protects the right of individuals to keep and bear arms. Taking away guns from US citizens infringes these rights. In the Baltimore Sun article it says, “The Second Amendment is vital to the preservation of liberty and freedom. The government’s responsibility is to trust, encourage and rely upon We the People. It is not to infringe upon our God-given rights, especially not enforcement of unconstitutional and liberty-killing violations like “gun control” laws. (Barnhart)” The History of our Government is based off of the constitution. A historical document which lists our American rights; to infringe upon these rights is to infringe upon our history. The historical importance of America is crucial to our American culture; therefore we should not adjust our constitution.

Guns will keep our American citizens safe from the enemy. Self-protection is crucial in the twenty first century especially because with new advancing technology anything could happen. Without guns we could have less violence. Fewer people would live in fear, and our crime rate would reduce. Without guns if someone who illegally obtained a weapon broke into your house, would you defend them with your good spirits? I don’t think so, with guns the crime rate will stay the same but at least the self-defense rate will also remain intact. There are no research studies which actually prove fewer guns leads to less violence. Risking our lives of a hunch is not exactly a chance we should jump at taking.

The US army is powerful enough to protect their citizens from any terrorist, criminals, etc. therefore gun ownership is progressively becoming unnecessary. We have devised weapons of mass destruction that could wipe out regions, and guns cannot compare to that so why use them? Terrorist, criminals, psychopaths do not publicly broadcast their attacks because that would defeat the purpose of the word “attack”. The US army is indeed powerful, but so is a gun being by your side when someone is threatening your life. In recent Philadelphia CBS news, “Police say two armed men robbed a Chickie’s & Pete’s in Drexel Hill, Delaware County Sunday morning, and locked the employees in a freezer. (McLaren)” You don’t always have fifteen minutes to wait for the police arrive. If the owner of the Chickie & Pete’s had a gun or had the police arrived sooner maybe they would have not have been robbed, and locked away. As US citizens that the police can protect us but what we forget is that they are not superheroes, they are human too. We cannot arrive somewhere in seconds, and neither can they. In certain situations, most situations, those seconds depict life and death.

We are thought to believe that criminals will automatically follow gun control laws, but it is an allusion. Just like it is an allusion less guns lead to less violence, it is an allusion the US government, although may be extremely powerful, will never fail, and it is an allusion that policemen are superheroes. Yes, it may be true we would all want to live in a world where there is world peace, but that is not our world. So as long as criminals can access guns, honorable US citizens should be able to also access guns. There is an unseen war going on, and let us not be blindsided because we are so accustomed to agreeing, and nodding our heads. Stand up, and speak up, guns to protect you from the enemy.